Immortal Flames vs. Freezing Dragon Breath; Wizard and Phoenix's Final Clash

Tomoeda, Late Afternoon

"Quite the sight." Beelzebub chuckled to himself as he overlooked the site where just moments ago Phoenix had done battle with the mahousukai and his comrades. The area was burnt in several areas, the asphalt cracked where powerful impacts had split the Earth and rubble from both Ghoul and Titan alike was scattered across the former battle ground. Mixed in with that rubble however, was what Beelzebub sought.

Strewn here and there, still giving off tiny wisps of steam and heat, were the remains of the once great Phoenix. The attendant Phantom had to snicker pleased as he imagined the trashing the Kamen Rider must've given the arrogant beast to destroy him not once, but twice in one day, and once with his bare hands!

"I cannot tell you how much I love seeing you in this state, my dear friend." Beel. stated confidently to a palm sized chunk he picked up from amid the rubble. "After what you've been through, as well as forcing yourself to revive so suddenly after being killed, I can't imagine you being able to recover any time soon. Leaving me this opportune moment to complete my task." Beelzebub held out a small black crystal that began to hum rhythmically as if in response to something.

Suddenly, particles of gold light began to filter into the air from the rubble that was scattered about. The golden mist hovered in mid air for a few moments before floating towards and be absorbed into the black crystal. The crystal glowed a sickly green as it took in the tremendous amount of mana. And just as the last of the gold particles were absorbed the green light died and Beelzebub looked to the wondrous item in his hand and grinned maliciously.

"And thus dies the Immortal Phoenix."

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The Haven

"I see, this is disturbing news." Eriol expressed from the mirror centered within the Haven's reclining area. Immediately after Carter had defeated Phoenix, the group pulled back from the battle ground in fear that Phoenix may revive a second time, though it seemed unlikely. They made their way to the amusement park; stealthily coming in from the back in order to avoid anyone spotting Sakura, Syaoran and Meilin in costume as well as the unconscious Carter Yukito and Syaoran had to carry, and opened their way into their Haven from the old entrance in the Hall of Mirrors. Once there, the Pla-Monsters were thankfully ready to treat everyone's wounds after the group set Carter down in the Haven's back room which oddly contained a bed.

After the Pla-monsters had finished with everyone else they immediately rushed to their unconscious master's side, fussing over his other injuries as they started wrapping up his hands which were bruised and busted beyond belief. Sakura then took this moment to contact Eriol through the Mirror in order to get his council on the situation. As it stood, Carter was unconscious and badly wounded, as well as others within the group, Carter's WizarDriver was damaged and non-functioning; though Golem stole the device away back to his work area the moment they showed it to him, and as far as they knew Phoenix was still out there, hunting for Syaoran whom he had a grudge against and more pissed off than ever after being beaten to pulp by Wizard. Their situation looked ultimately bleak.

"For now you should all work on recovering and let Golem worry about Carter's belt. Knowing him he'll be quick to recover and he'll need his gear and team ready with him." Eriol explained calmly.

"He's right, we won't be able to do much in our condition. If another Phantom attack occurs we need to be ready." Kero concurred with his former master.

"I still can't believe we made it in the end." Meilin sighed in exasperation as she laid across one of the many couches sorely. "That Phantom was like nothing we could have ever been ready for, and him being Tai En just makes him even more dangerous."

"Why does Phoenix have such a grudge against you, Syaoran-kun?" Sakura finally asked. The reason for the Phantom still holding a grudge from his human life was a mystery to Sakura and one that she noticed disturbed Carter the moment he heard of it. Syaoran sighed as he clasped his hands together and pondered how to explain.

"I suppose I should start by explaining just who he is, who Tai En is." The young mage started. "Tai En, youngest son of the Tai family, another Chinese Clan of Sorcerers who are in no short terms, the Li Clan's equals in power and prestige." His friends with the exception of Meilin stared in shock at this unexpected news. "The Tai clan, though not openly our enemies, were never on friendly terms with the Li's since before my Parents generation. They are a clan who believe in only two things, power and authority."

"They're nothing but a bunch of arrogant ingrates." Meilin growled as she clenched her fist in loathing memory. "All they do is belittle and manipulate lesser clans while openly antagonizing strong clans like ours. And Tai En is probably the worst of them all."

"So he was cruel even before he was a Phantom." Eriol surmised.

"Beyond cruel, not to mention pigheaded and infuriating." Meilin snapped to which Syaoran had to place a hand on her shoulder in order to calm her down.

"He was raised by a family that drilled into his mind since he was a child that he was superior to anyone. As the youngest son he had a great many things to attempt to live up to, and he unfortunately had a very unfortunate handicap."

"What?" Sakura asked when the group suddenly turned at the sound of a disturbance behind them.

"If he became a Phantom at that age, I can only assume his handicap was not being able to use magic, am I right?" Carter shuffled into the room groggily as he had to use the wall for support. "Hey guys." Carter waved one of his bandaged hands. "Mind telling me why my hands are like this?"

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Phantoms' Hideout

"It is done, my lady." Beelzebub declared as he returned to his mistress's bed chamber, the fully energized crystal in hand.

"Excellent." The Phantom leader stepped out from the cover of her bed and took the crystal from Beelze's waiting hand while rubbing an affectionate hand down the side of her attendant's cheek. "At least I have one loyal attendant who gets results."

"My lady." Beelzebub bowed, honored by her words.

"Such a shame Phoenix, you had such a future if you had just obeyed me and provided the results I needed."

"Why did you let such an animal into our ranks? He nearly killed the Card Mistress along with his target. He could have put your entire plan in ruins." Beelzebub had to finally know. He had put up with the uncouth Phantom for so long only on the word of his Mistress but since it was clear Phoenix was of no use to them anymore, he had to know the meaning behind this madness.

"Obviously for his strength and his burning hatred, frankly I found his burning desire for destruction to be the only thing mildly interesting about him. But in the end, he was nothing but bluster and hot air." The female Phantom held up the glowing gem in her hand and starred at it hungrily. "He failed to destroy the mahousukai. He even failed to kill the Card Mistress's lover and nearly killed her in his attempt. He has betrayed my expectations, so now, the only thing he's good for is his mana."

The form of the small girl suddenly faded away in a burst of malicious purple light. Beelzebub was so awed by his lady's true form and the power she radiated that he had to look away in a mixture of terror and respect. Watching the shadows across the wall beside him, Beelzebub witnessed as his master brought the gem to her chest, absorbing the dense stone into herself as she drank in its font of magical power.

"Aw, delicious." Retaking her human appearance, the Phantom mistress licked her lips in satisfaction and gestured her attendant to rise once more. "It seems we are in need of a new enforcer to replace Phoe-ugh!" The Phantom woman suddenly felt weak at the knees and she collapsed to the ground grasping her stomach.

"My lady!" Beelzebub rushed to his master's side, reaching for her arm to help her rise only to find that even drawing near her burned him from the intense heat she was giving off.

"What is this?!" The Phantom Mistress demanded as she felt as if a camp fire had been lit inside her stomach and chest. Steam began to filter off of her and her pale skinned turned an angry red.

"Bitch, don't think I stay down that easy."

"Phoenix! But how?!"

"You think you can just toss me aside, like they did?!"

"This is my body, I won't let you take it."

"I don't want your puny body hag! I want out!"

Beelzebub watched in horror as his leader was forced to retake her Phantom appearance once more but instead of the fear of seeing her terrifying appearance he was horrified that such a fearsome creature was in so much agony. A pair of twin geysers of flame shot from the Phantom's back, taking the form of a pair of burning wings.

"Let. Me. OUT!"

In an eruption of fire and heat, a winged form exploded from the Phantom Mistress's back. The Phantom leader collapsed to the floor once more in her human form and Beelzebub took a protective stance over his wounded master and starred horrorstruck at the being hovering before him.

"You?! But how!"

"I'll say it as many times I need to. I am the Immortal Phoenix!" The newly revived Phoenix declared, his burning wings encompassing the entire cave and suddenly crashing together to form a wildfire that engulfed Beelzebub and the Phantom Mistress. "And I am no one's pawn, not anymore." Phoenix took off through the cave entrance and into the evening sky, leaving the burning cave behind him."

Unbeknownst to the fiery Phantom, a barrier had been erected just before his attack had struck. A barrier made of thorny vines.

"My lady!" Beelzebub held his master in his arms and starred down at her pained expression. It was clear Phoenix had sapped a great deal of her strength as he forced his way free from her. Just as it seemed that his lady was finally becoming stronger, strong enough for them to move forward with their plans. This set back was truly tragic.

The Phantom mistress starred back to the cave entrance and though she was in incredible pain and agony, she smiled, intrigued by these events.

'How interesting. Just where will that rage take him?'

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"Yare yare! All that happened after I blacked out?" Carter asked in disbelief while looking at his hands in shock.

"You were almost like a whole other person." Meilin explained. "I didn't know you could fight like that either."

"I'm honestly not much of a brawler, being the studious type in my youth I never like to use my fist to fight. Drove my Master Faust up the wall." Carter chuckled as he thought back to his days of training. "I suppose that outburst that beat Phoenix was thanks to his teachings. He always taught me to hone my anger like I would my swordsmanship, pretty gruesome business but I guess it sunk in." The magician admitted. "Gonna be hard to grade papers for a while." He joked as he reached for some tea Yukito prepared for the group. He winced in pain and nearly dropped his cup as his weak fingers attempted to grasp the handle. "And hold tea cups."

"I'll send over a healing salve, to accelerate your recovery a bit." Eriol promised.

"Thanks boss." Carter smiled appreciation. "So, Syaoran-kun. You were saying?" Carter realized he had interrupted Syaoran's story and motioned for him to continue.

"Right." Syaoran sighed as he thought of where to continue. "Well, because of his handicap he was seen as the black sheep amongst his family of powerful sorcerers. He had to constantly prove he was worth being a part of his own family, and that means he had to go out of his way to prove his family's 'superiority'."

"I'm guessing without magic to prove that, he must've relied on his martial arts in order to bring people under him." Kero assumed.

"Yes." Syaoran nodded, expressionlessly. "As a martial artist, he was a prodigy. His arrogance and ego were as much his strength as his skill and power were. He was able to defeat much more experienced and stronger fighters and that caused others to fear him. Other clans, mundane fighters, he had gained a reputation of fear and dominance in Southern Chinese cities, including Hong Kong."

"So, I guess he didn't waste time before gunning straight for the Li clan?" Carter deduced.

"Syaoran and I train at a martial arts hall in downtown Hong Kong. Our family is friends with the Sifu there. Syaoran was busy with his studies so he wasn't there the day Tai En busted his way into the hall, challenged and then beat the Sifu and three of his students while belittling and humiliating them. Then I stepped up." Meilin explained while gripping her fist in frustration.

"Meilin-chan." Sakura could see how upset her friend was. It was clear to all of them that she had not been able to defeat Tai En either. But Sakura and Syaoran were the only ones that knew how much Meilin pushed herself to be capable even without Magic of her own and not being able to live up to her self-imposed standards frustrated her to no end. Sakura placed a comforting hand over Meilin's and Syaoran placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Anyway, it wasn't long before Syaoran heard what was going on and rushed to the hall."

"And based on Phoenix's reaction when he saw you, I guess you must've have beaten him. Good on ya, man." Carter clapped his young friend on the back but Syaoran didn't smile from the compliment.

"It's not that simple." Syaoran said with a grimace.

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Phoenix gazed out over the city as the sun began to set over the horizon. A chilling breeze was blowing through, not that it could actually bother him. His body still radiated heat that appeared as steam wafting off him. Whether it was a manifestation of his renewed strength or his worsening mood was unknowable.

"Damn them all." The teen turned Phantom muttered to himself. "They'll know there place, soon enough."

In his human life he had seen himself as being an expert on putting lesser beings in their place. He put the fear and respect demanded by the Tai family into almost any one he came across. They knew not to cross him and they knew what Clan he was a part of.

Phoenix scowled as memories of his clan crossed his mind. He thought he was doing his duty as the youngest son of his family. Showing them all he could be of use to them even if he did lack any magical capabilities. But in the end he realized he had been a fool. He was barely on his parent's radar. His brothers despised him and saw his enforcement of Tai clan respect as nothing but childish brawling, fit for a low born.

And this entire revelation came to him on that day. That day his life was ruined. The day he met Li Xiaolang.

Flashback

"Hahahaha! Is this all you've got you Li clan scum?" Tai En asked his captive who struggled against his choke hold while crying in pain as he jerked her head back with a twist of one of her pigtails.

"Please, stop this!" The martial arts hall's Sifu begged him. The man sported a bloody nose and cuts around his face where En had smashed the old man's glasses and face in one swift punch. Three of his students lay unconscious around him, their bodies broken from their own beatings courtesy of the intruder. The Li girl had stepped up after them and though she put up a better fight then the previous four her skill was still child like compared to his over whelming strength.

It was then that the hall doors were blown open and a boy with dark brown hair and amber eyes burst in.

"Meilin!" He called in concern while glaring outraged at En who just grinned backed in challenge.

"Syaoran-kun, don't fight him!" Meilin begged. "He's too strong, inhumanly so!"

"I appreciate the compliment but a loser should know when to shut her mouth." En snapped and then tossed Meilin to the ground at his feet. Syaoran rushed to her side, cradling his cousin in his arms as her eyes teared up in shame. "Pathetic, both of you are!" En spat and raised his foot into the air with the expectation of smashing the Li heir's face into the ground. He was thoroughly shocked when his would be victims arm shot up and caught his leg mid drop. "Oh!" En snickered, slightly impressed.

Syaoran released En's leg and then stepped away with Meilin in his arms. He set his cousin down a safe distance away and removed both his shoes and school jacket all the while folding back his shirt sleeves.

"You clearly want to pick a fight. So I'll give you one." Syaoran promised as he took his stance. En cackled as he stepped up to face his next foe, but he did not take a stance. Stances were for defense, he only cared about beating his victims into the ground. He never gave them a chance for a serious offense.

And just as his style dictated, he would attack first without warning. He stepped forward, sending his leg slicing through the air in a kick that was directed straight for the Li brat's head. Syaoran instantly countered with his own kick and the two collided at once. En was impressed again, the brat had some strength of his own, but still not in his league.

En stomped his foot down as he drove his fist into Syaoran's chest. The blow lifted him off the ground slightly, such a punch usually would've felled any opponent, but Syaoran had the sense to cross his arms together in a block before he got the wind knocked out of him.

En didn't stop there as he twisted around, to slam the back of his fist into the side of Syaoran's head. Again, Syaoran threw up a guard to block. En continued his assault as his bashed his fist rapidly into Syaoran's blocking arms. He then took advantage of his foes blocked vision to deliver another roundhouse into his torso, sending him reeling back.

"Is this the best you can do, Li clan scum?" En inquired, shrugging dismissively as he had already grown bored of beating the teen down through his defenses. Syaoran picked himself up and retook his stance again, his eyes were focused, unafraid or angry. They ticked En off. "Uppity little shit!" En growled as he stepped back in, driving his fist in again. Syaoran just barely deflected and redirected the blow to the side before sending his own fist forward.

'Tch. Don't get cocky!' En scoffed internally. Though he did not believe in defense he did believe in avoiding getting hit when he could. The young Tai clan member swayed his head back, intending to avoid the blow before it ever hit him. The jab whizzed past his face, Tai En grinned in triumph as he attempted to press in while his foe was unguarded, but he could not get his legs to move!

En starred in shock at his shaking legs. He could not get them to respond to his commands. He then realized what was wrong. Though it was probably only a grazing tap Syaoran's punch did in fact hit him on the chin. Even a weak blow like that, if it hit the right spot, could cause a shock to his brain that would make it difficult for him to control his basic motor functions. Only through sheer force of will was he able to remain standing.

Syaoran immediately took advantage of En's lack of retaliation and leaped up. En watched in shock and disbelief as Syaoran's foot came flying straight for him. And once his kick struck, everything went dark.

Flashback End

Phoenix snarled in fury as he drove his fist into a nearby tree, splintering its trunk and causing it to break completely in two.

His first loss ever. And it had been to some little punk who got in a lucky punch. He had been defeated at the art he excelled at while his opponent didn't even need to bring out his magic.

In no time at all, his loss had been reported to his family. And what did they do? His brothers, of course absolutely ridiculed him for his disgraceful actions, saying he was shocked he would even show his face around their mother and father. But the heaviest blow of all came when his father and mother gave their thoughts.

"It's impossible to be disappointed in something we had no expectations for in the first place."

"This is only as far as a lesser being can go, of course."

Their words devastated him. He was nothing to them. Not a son. Not even as a person even close to their level. Though he had not been cast out, he knew it was probably because they didn't even know he was there in first place. He was isolated amongst his own family. He was nothing.

"Phoenix-sama?" Phoenix straightened up as he suddenly realized someone had been behind him, trying to get his attention for a few minutes. Though he expected they would send someone after him, he recognized this voice. For now, this Phantom was not his enemy.

"Sphinx is it?" Phoenix replied coldly. "So you followed me?"

"Of course, Phoenix-sama. I am ever at your command." Sphinx bowed in respect as Phoenix turned to face him, scowling.

"You would turn against your mistress to join a traitor like me?" Phoenix asked in mock suspicion.

"Myself and a few others believe that we Phantoms only have purpose and order by following the strongest. At this moment, Phoenix-sama is the most powerful of all Phantoms."

"Would you follow me to war with both the mahousukai and our brethren?" Phoenix demanded.

"If that is your wish. I believe I am worthy to be of your service." Sphinx replied confidently.

"And why is that?" Phoenix demanded snidely.

"Forgive me for saying but, Phoenix-sama cannot create these." Sphinx snapped his finger and at once a horde of ghouls, several dozens upon dozens of them, stepped from the shadows. "Or these." Three enormous figures stepped from behind the trees, towering over the ghouls and falling to their knees before Phoenix. "Your army awaits their general. And by noon tomorrow my associates and I can create for you double this force."

"Excellent." Phoenix grinned expectantly as he looked down at Tomoeda once more. This city would soon know the full force of his wrath and ire. He would crush all who stood before him without mercy, be they helpless human, meddlesome magician or inferior Phantom. He'll soon bring them all under his heel.

Unbeknownst to Phoenix and his cronies, a certain dark haired woman looked upon the gathering anxiously, hidden behind the trees. 'This is not good.' She thought to herself before dashing back into the woods. 'I have to warn them!'

Boom!

Empousa stopped dead in her tracks as the line of trees ahead of her went up in flames in an instant, thanks to a fireball lobbed by Phoenix who snickered gleefully as he and his army encircled the woman. Empousa immediately took her armored Phantom appearance, saber in hand and ready to defend herself.

"I was hoping I'd see you again." Phoenix cackled before his arms were engulfed by twin jets of flame. "Now I can pay you back for our last meeting."

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"Hrrng!" Carter winced suddenly catching his friends' attention.

"Do your wounds still hurt Yu-kun?" Sakura asked in concern. Carter smiled slightly and shook his head dismissively, though Tomoyo noticed one of his hands looming awfully close to his chest.

"So in the end, you beat this Tai En kid, right gaki?" Kero surmised after Syaoran recounted his story. "Doesn't sound like he has any legitimate reason to hate you so much other than for the sake of being petty, if you ask me."

"I know it may sound that way…" Syaoran sighed exhaustively. "But you don't know the Tai clan like we do. Their pride is their most fundamental trait. They could never bare the thought of being equal to anyone. The fact that Tai En's fight with me was decided by one lucky blow would have devastated his ego. Also, I doubt his family took to kindly to this news either." Syaoran's expression became solemn. "I didn't hear any specifics of his fate after he left Hong Kong, but based on today's battle, I can only imagine the worst."

"How horrible." Yukito stated mournfully. "To think something like that happened to a boy so young."

"It is not unheard of." Eriol pointed out, though his expression was sorrowful. "But it is always tragic."

"Hmm…" Carter began pondering to himself as if debating something he felt didn't match up.

"What is it?" Meilin inquired.

"Well, for most Gates, the magic inside them lays dormant until they fall into despair as we are all assuming happened to Phoenix." His friends nodded. "But what I can't understand is why it stayed dormant at all. He was from a family with a rich magical heritage and even if his magic was unable to manifest at a young age it's not like it wasn't there." Carter started pacing. "It just doesn't add up, if anything, even as a Gate his magic should have manifested due to the constant magical influence around him, so why didn't it?" The group could see that the scholarly magician was putting a lot of thought into a conundrum he apparently just realized. "Yikes, look at the time!" Carter pointed to his watch; it was well into the evening. The Sun was most likely setting already and his friends would most likely have worried parents.

"I guess it is about time we took these kids home." Kero pointed out.

"Then I'll be signing off as well I suppose." Eriol smiled and waved goodbye to the others.

"Will you be alright, Yu-kun?" Tomoyo asked as she, Sakura, Syaoran, Meilin, Kero and Yuikto got up and were preparing to exit the Haven through the Mirror Hall door.

"I'll be fine." He assured her. "I want to be ready as soon as possible the next time another attack happens, so I need to be here when Golem fixes my Driver. Plus, I've got these guys with me after all." The Pla-monsters hovered around their master protectively, they gave their calls of assurance and promise as well.

"Oh, before you leave Ms. Meilin…" Eriol called, stopping the group in their tracks. "Might I be allowed to look over that curious ornament of yours?" He asked politely. Meilin raised a confused brow at his request.

"Leave it, Hiragizawa." Carter warned. "I won't ask for something I have no right to."

"Yet you have no problem using my stones as payment." The Clow reincarnation chuckled good naturedly, knowing he found the hole in the Wizard's logic.

"Why do you want my hair clip?" Meilin deduced what Eriol really was getting at.

"If I'm not mistaken, that is a perfectly flawless Blue Mahouseki. Something my collection severely lacked and what Carter needs to complete his set of rings."

Meilin looked at the gift from her aunt in astonishment. She had no idea it had such importance.

"Mother must've had known the stone had some magical properties and gave it to Meilin as a protective charm." Syaoran deduced. Sakura looked to Meilin worriedly. She knew like the rest of them how important their battle was, but did they really need to make her sacrifice such a cherished gift?

"Yu-sensei…" Meilin removed the pin from her hair, letting her black bun fall apart and let her long hair hang loose. "Please, use this to protect the city and the people." She offered Carter the ornament.

The magician did not look at the pin. He instead clasped his hands around Meilin's while starring proudly into her eyes. "I will make this up to you, I swear on our friendship I hold dear." Carter swore whole heartedly.

"I wouldn't say no to your motorcycle." Meilin winked cutely, causing her friends to nearly fall forward at such a bold request.

Carter seemed to actually think about it for a moment. "Well I'd have to talk it over with Winger, but…only once you're old enough to get a motorcycle license."

"Deal!" Meilin and Carter high fived with wide smiles, their gathered friends had no idea if they were kidding or if they were actually going to make this trade. "Goodnight Yu-sensei!" Meilin called cheerfully as she followed her cousin and the others out. Carter smiled as they went and once they were gone did he turn a dangerous eye on the still grinning Eriol.

"You're an arse. You know that?"

"Be that as it may, you now have everything you need to face Phoenix one more time." Eriol replied before his image faded from view on the mirror.

"Damn that smart aleck…" Carter groaned tiredly as he carefully removed the blue stone from the pin. "But bless him at the same time I suppose." Golem was in for a surprise.

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The Next Day; Noon

Beep Beep!

"Hey get out of the road! It's dangerous!"

"You're holding up traffic kid!"

The angry blare of car horns and the frustrated calls of hurrying commuters permeated the backed up town intersection. Passing by pedestrians starred at the scene in confusion. In their eyes, it seemed as though another pedestrian had stopped in the middle of the road for an unknown reason and was not moving though he was holding up traffic while pulling such a dangerous stunt. They could not truly imagine how far more sinister the situation was.

"Now, let's wreak some havoc." The dark haired teen grinned as he held out twin handfuls of smoking black rocks. He tossed both handfuls into the air, scattering them throughout the street. The black stones began giving off purple smoke and from that smoke formed packs of horned stone creatures wielding pikes, short swords and odd fireball shooting projectile weapons on their arms. The shocked citizens scrambled in terror as the first Ghouls sprouted literally from nowhere. The commuters were in a immediate disarray as they collided with each other or ditched their vehicles in order to escape the monsters that rushed right for them. All the while, the Ghouls masters cackled in glee as he overlooked the havoc.

"You! Don't move!" Phoenix rolled his eyes as patrol officer who happened to be nearby confronted him, pistol drawn. "I don't know what those things are but it's clear you made them. Call them off!" The cop ordered. Phoenix scoffed and marched toward the officer menacingly. "I'm warning you! I'll shoot."

"You can. Won't do you any good though." Phoenix replied with a sneer as he took his full Phantom appearance. The very human cop starred wide eyed at the terrifying creature he had been training his gun on.

"Bakemono!"

Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!

The man unloaded every round in his gun on the monstrous Phantom, each shot bouncing off his chest uselessly. Phoenix snickered and grabbed the man's gun hand, squeezing it until he heard the satisfying sound of screams mingled with broken bones. "Thank you for your service, you are dismissed." Phoenix snapped his arms to the side, sending the poor man flying through the air until he crashed through the windshield of an empty car. He did not get up.

"Ghouls!" Phoenix called, brining his beastial force of over 200 Ghouls to his side to receive their next orders. "Go forth through the city and cause mayhem however you see fit. Our objective is not Gates but those who will rise up to defend them!" Phoenix knew, even if they had not recovered nearly enough from their battle yesterday, the mahousukai and his brat's would come. "Slaughter anyone you come across, draw out Kamen Rider and comrades! Go!" Their orders received, the Ghouls sped off. Some went hunting for the pedestrians who they saw had left the moment they were spawned, others went about creating further havoc as they tipped over cars or broke their way into shops and buildings lining the streets for yet unseen prey.

"Sphinx and the other one should be doing their parts by now. Won't be long now." Phoenix chuckled confidently. Today, vengeance would be his.

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"Fire!" Sphinx ordered with his cane pointed ahead. In response to his command, a line of arm blaster equipped Ghouls let loose with a volley of fire balls. The projectiles exploded as they impacted against the streets, cars and buildings ahead of Sphinx and his company. "Fire at will!" Sphinx continued, letting his troops let loose, all for the sake of scattering the terrified flock of human sheep. More fun to hunt them down while they're scattered about.

"Hey!" A call from the other side of the street alerted Sphinx that he already had company. "You're not getting away this time." Meilin promised, once again donned in her battle gear. It seemed as though her leg had already recovered.

"Hmmph! Pitiful, they send the powerless one to try to intercept me. I feel insulted." Sphinx raised his cane, summoning an orb of fire to its tip. "Begone!" The black robed Phantom shouted as he let loose a gout of flame for the seemingly defenseless young woman.

The moment the flames were about to consume her a dome of clear white energy surrounded her, parting the flames so that they would flow harmlessly around her.

"She didn't come alone." Sphinx looked up in irritation at the silver haired angel hovering above Meilin, the shield was courtesy of him. Sphinx then heard a vicious roar and had to leap away as a plume of fire torched his brigade of Ghouls.

"Time we had a crack at you." Keroberos stated as he and Yue landed side by side Meilin. The lady fighter cracked her knuckles expectantly.

"If you think those were all of my troops, you are gravely mistaken." Sphinx snapped, prompting a fresh pack of Ghouls of all varieties to file in front of him with their weapons raised. "And that's not all." Meilin, Yue and Kero suddenly felt the rumble of impact tremors and they looked to their immediate right where they watched in shock at the 50 foot Ghoul peering around the side of a nearby building and looking down at them.

"Ruoh!"

The Titan barred down on the trio as Sphinx's melee troops charged ahead. Meilin hopped on the tips of her toes in warm-up as Yue projected his magic bow and arrows and puffs of flame escaped Kero's snarling jaws.

"Let's go boys!" Meilin quipped confidently as the Ghoul horde fell upon them.

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"Oof!"

"Yaaah!"

"Arrrgh!"

"Daskate!"

"Yeah that's what I love to hear!" A towering; 7 foot tall, Phantom howled in joy at the screams and terror filled cries of the citizens as his Ghouls ruthlessly attacked and hunted down the defenseless citizenry. The Phantom had a thickly built body with large square like shoulders, loping arms with massive almost club like hands, tree trunk like legs that seemed to almost melt into the ground in a pair of wide stubs, and his face was a caricature of a cruel grin that seemed almost painted on. The Phantom's entire body looked like it was made of molten rock as waves of heat streamed off him and the very ground beneath him melted.

"Joining Phoenix and Sphinx really paid off." The Phantom stated happily. "That hard ass Beelzebub and that lazy boss of his would never let us wreak havoc like this. Now it's time for ol' Cherufe to cut loose!" Cherufe's boulder like hands started oozing hot magma as he set his eyes on a particular family of humans trying to sneak away from scene. Mom, Dad, two kids, the picturesque family. The ideal targets. "Hell Yeah!" Cherufe slammed his molten hands into the ground, summoning a pillar of lava that raced after the retreating family who noticed just as it was about to fall upon them.

"Barrier, now!"

"Barrier, now!"

Just as the lava was seconds from swallowing the helpless people, from the sides a sudden tornado of emerald gust and a sapphire blue wave of water rushed to meet the lava. The wind and water spells met in the middle and combined into a massive typhoon that halted the lava in its tracks, flash cooled it and swept it away as harmless rock.

"Who the hell?!" Cherufe demanded as four cloaked figures stood in his path. Two of the four had their hands to their belts and finally released their spell, dismissing the typhoon.

"Please evacuate." The tallest of the four ordered the shocked family. "Leave this to the Kamen Riders." That was all the two parents needed to hear as they shuffled their children away.

"We're Kamen Riders are we now Flame?" Hurricane inquired skeptically.

"For now we must play the part." Water explained for her leader.

"It's too early, how did this happen?" Land asked confused.

"I can only ascertain is this another anomaly but not the fated time yet. For now we must do as what we can to settle this matter along with Wizard and the Card Mistress." Flame explained as he slipped on his red ring.

"So, we got more mahousukai rats scurrying around do we?" Cherufe slammed his fist together expectantly. "And I get the run of all ya. Must be make me happy day." The Phantom's ghouls flanked him on all sides.

"Driver On!"

The cloaked mages each brought their uniquely colored henshin rings to their buckles as their own unique magic circles fell over them.

"Change…Flame…Water…Hurricane…Land!"

The once cloaked quartet were now armored in white tunics with wide lensed, gem faced helmets, black gloves and boots. Each of them wore a similar red and black driver. Each of them also possessed black shoulder pads but there was the end of their absolute similarities. The four's helmets, chest centered gems, shoulder spikes and capes were colored the same as their intended elements. Of the four only Land possessed a black, claw like gauntlet that covered their right hand in place of the usual glove.

The four mages stood unfazed by the force before them and moved as one to face it. Flame held up his ring hand in challenge as he declared. "Now, it's time to end this!"

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Haven

Carter watched the Crystal Ball anxiously as he saw through Garuda's eyes the devastation caused by Phoenix and his minions. And while his friends were out there trying to contain and end the situation, he was here, powerlessly starring at a glass ball.

"C'mon, c'mon…" Carter's eyes darted toward Golem's work area where could hear the little familiar vigorously working at repairing the WizarDriver. Carter's hand squeezed tight around the pair of rings Golem had already completed through the night. Twin blue gem set rings, his final Dragon ring and its compatriot elemental spell. Since Golem had bases already prepared for them he completed them first so Carter would have his trump card against Phoenix, but without a driver; not just these two, but all of his rings were useless.

"Hurry Golem." His friends needed him and Tomoeda needed it's Kamen Rider.

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"Windy!" Sakura, in her full Piffle costume, called out as her sylph's golden winds enwrapped a fleeing group of bystanders as their Ghoul pursuers were only seconds from pouncing on them. The winds carried the civilians up to the roof of a nearby building where they were out of reach from the Ghouls. But now the throng of stone beast had a new target. "Sword!"

"I'm with you." Syaoran was at Sakura's side with his Jian in hand as the Ghouls barred down on them with pikes and swords raised. Sakura smiled to Syaoran trustingly as they stood back to back while the Ghouls surrounded them.

"Ehhhh!"

"Haaaaa!"

As the Ghouls charged in one by one, Sakura and Syaoran broke into a slicing and sweeping dance of silver blades. As one would slash out at a Ghoul they would back up and the other would be there to take their place. Back and forth they danced.

Sakura took a firm two handed grip on her rapier as she ducked and sidestepped the pike thrust coming at her. The Ghouls had numbers but no actual skill or dexterity with their weapons, while she had years of trained athleticism on her side, making her nearly impossible for the clumsy Ghouls to hit. "Ehhhhh!" Sakura saw her opening and sliced one off guard Ghoul in two, and there a gap formed in the Ghoul's amateurish phalanx, exploitable enough for Sakura to wade in, slicing off Ghoul heads one after another. And once the hole began to close up, and Sakura was in danger of being overtaken by the Ghouls, she would immediately leap out and then Syaoran stepped in.

"Raitei...Shourai!" Sakura took cover behind Syaoran as he released a surge of electricity from his sword that blasted the rank reforming Ghouls to bits thus pushing the line even further back. This strategy was working for them so far but there were still so many Ghouls and they were only two, they couldn't hold out forever. Luckily they didn't need to.

"It looks like our back-ups here." Syaoran smiled thankfully as the two saw the red, blue and yellow shapes racing toward them. The Pla-monsters, battle sized by Sakura and ordered by Carter to go out into city and save as many people as possible from the Ghouls, had finally returned to aid the two mages.

Unicorn gave a triumphant call as he stampeded through a back line of Ghouls, he saw how Sakura and Syaoran had been surrounded and immediately jettisoned his horn. Sakura saw her queue and leaped up, taking the blue, long bladed spear in her free hand.

"Syaoran-kun, get down!" Sakura called out in warning, he didn't need to be told twice as Sakura began twirling the long weapon overhead turning it into a helicopter blade that demolished the nearby Ghouls. Uni made its way through a line of remaining beast and allowed Sakura and Syaoran to climb onto his back so he could lead them while Garuda and Kraken began wiping out further lines with their ink bullets and swiping talons.

"I think we've taken out most of the Ghouls in this part of town." Sakura assumed since this had been the largest pack they'd seen thus far.

"Then we should focus on ending this now. We have to find Phoenix." Syaoran urged, then his eyes widened and he suddenly grabbed Sakura and flung the two of them from Unicorn's back, just as a fire ball came hurtling in and knocked the mechanical beast off its feet.

"Uni-san!" Sakura cried out fearfully as the Pla-monster collapsed to the ground and seemed incapable of getting up. Sakura and Syaoran rushed to their friend's side just he gave a weak call and to their shock began to fade away, his body becoming blue wisps of magic that dispersed, leaving behind only the ring which acted as his core. Sakura carefully scooped the ring up and held it close to her chest in remorse. "Arigato." She let a single tear fall before she rose up along with Syaoran to face their cruel foe.

"Yo, miss me Mahou brats?" Phoenix cackled cruelly as he put out the flames still lingering on his hands.

"Tai En." Syaoran growled hatefully, which Phoenix returned with a snarl."

"That's not my name! Tai En was a loser, a pathetic wretch of a human being!" Phoenix was shaking in anger as he insulted his former self. "But I am strong. I am invincible. No one can match my power, not a Phantom nor a magician. I'm in a league of my own! The Immortal Phoenix-sama!" Phoenix's wings sprouted from his back triumphantly at his declaration, wide and blazing red. "And guess what kiddies, it's my showtime, from now on." Phoenix suddenly held up a large, molten looking chunk of rock.

"What is that?" Syaoran demanded as he held up a fuda in challenge.

"Specially devised for me by my underlings. The perfect toy for me to enjoy breaking you with." Phoenix's burning finger tips seemed to ignite the molten cracks in the rock just as he tossed it to the ground in front of Syaoran and Sakura before leaping away to watch the devastation from a more comfortable perch.

The flaming rock began giving off purple mist and a colossal form began to appear within the mist.

"Let me introduce my specialized Titan, made in my glorious image!" Phoenix declared as the giant stone monster gave a roar so loud and bellowing that it parted the mist around it. It was indeed made in Phoenix's image, save for a lacking of his red color in place with a molten black and orange with blazing red eyes, it was a massive roaring replica of the infernal Phantom, it appeared to be even a bit bigger than the usual brand of Titan. "Try not to die too quickly. I was actually hoping to enjoy finishing you off once I got bored of him crushing you." Phoenix called nonchalantly as Sakura and Syaoran stood their ground swords raised along with the remaining two Pla-monsters who called out in revenge for their defeated comrade. The Titan Phoenix charged straight for them, red eyes hungry for blood.

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Meilin, Yue and Kero's battle had descended into a full on brawl as the trio were forced to separate to deal with the mob on three fronts, while at the same time having to avoid being hit by the wild swings of the Titan, which worked in their favor at times as the giant was unintentionally wiping it out its own smaller comrades with every swing. And while this was going on, the deplorable Sphinx was sitting back confidently, watching the carnage unfold.

Kero snarled viciously as he tore into the Ghouls that had surrounded him. His claws, fangs and bulk were proving useful weapons against the weaker familiars as he swatted them aside with ease or pounced upon and tore into them. The winged lion let out an angry roar as he let loose a blast of flame from his jaws that turned the gathered beast to charcoal and those that were smart enough to hang back were met with Yue's volley of crystal shards that ripped chunks from their stone bodies.

Unlike his comrades Yue was hardly a close ranged combatant, he took full advantage of his flight capabilities as he rained down arrows and crystal shards on the hapless Ghouls. And though this made him an excellent target for the Cannon armed Ghouls, his shield proved capable enough of absorbing the blast and giving him opportunity to return fire.

"Hup!" Meilin planted her foot into the torso of a Ghoul that came rushing for her, with her increased leg strength she sent the stone monster crashing backwards into its kin, taking out a half dozen more in the process. The masked fighter then had to duck a fireball that came soaring for her head and she glared toward Sphinx who snickered arrogantly as he prepared another projectile. Meilin then decided she had had quite enough of the Phantom.

Meilin took a running leap and landed upon the shoulders of one Ghoul. She then hopped forward to the Ghoul in front of her and to the next until she had gained enough momentum to start running across the top of the mob of Phantoms. Sphinx saw her coming and threw a few more fireballs out in retaliation, but Meilin managed to nab a spear from one the Ghouls and commenced twirling the long weapon out in front of her at high speeds, catching and dispersing the flames on her makeshift barrier. She took careful aim and loosed the spear with all her strength, catching Sphinx in the shoulder and causing him to reel back in pain.

"Gotcha now!" Meilin declared as she leaped off the last Ghoul. Sphinx recovered just quick enough to see Meilin soar toward him and smash her knee into his face.

"Guuuhhhh!" Sphinx groaned in pain as he covered his broken face. "Onore!" Sphinx swung his cane forward in rage, sending a wave of fire toward Meilin. The butterfly masked girl saw the oncoming wall of burning death but did not back down. Instead, the green gems on her anklets began to glow as Meilin set her front foot and then kicked straight up with her other leg with all her might. To Sphinx's dismay, the fire parted in the middle as the Phantom felt a mighty gust of wind coming straight for him, too late as he felt an impact on his chest that knocked him off his feet.

"Golem, I love these anklets!" Meilin called joyfully as she turned on her heels and kicked out side to side rapidly. Blades of wind were sent flying out from the force of her kicks and sliced through the unsuspecting Ghouls still fighting the Clow Guardians. The two sided assault backed the remaining Ghouls together into a thin line that was slowly being wittled away by Meilin's wind kicks and the two's own projectile attacks. But the trio had been so focused on Sphinx and the Ghouls they forgot their 'biggest' problem.

"Urrrrgh!" The Titan roared dully as it brought its massive hand up in preparation to swat Meilin flat like she would a bug. She looked up in shock just in time as the massive stone hand was positioned above her. She kicked up, hoping her wind force kicks could knock the giant limb aside but it only slowed it slightly as it came falling down upon her. Yue and Kero called out in warning, urging Meilin to move away but then a ring of fire suddenly surrounded her, cutting off her escape.

"Squashed like a bug, a fate suited for a human insect like yourself." Sphinx cackled insanely as he watched in glee as his Titan's hand finally smash down on the bothersome wench. "Yes." He grinned in satisfaction.

Go, Falco! F-F-F-F-Falco!

A gold and red blur suddenly swooped in just beneath the Titans hand, extracting Meilin from the flames and landing off to the side.

"That was a close one, eh jou-chan?"

Meilin starred wide eyed at her rescuer as did Kero, Yue and Sphinx. He wore a black body suit with white gloves, gold trimming on his shoulders, legs and arms as well as half of his chest armor was gold. On his left shoulder was a snarling gold lion head, on his right was the head of a red falcon with a red, gold trimmed mantle hanging from it so that it covered his right arm. He wore a gold helmet with green eyes that was also modeled after a lion with a white face mask that resembled fangs. And around his waist was a black belt with another lion set in its center, flanked by what appeared to be a pair of open doors with inscriptions of a falcon, ox, dolphin and chameleon. And what shocked Meilin the most, her armored rescuer was wearing a pair of rings on each finger and a chain of rings on his belt, just like someone she knew well.

"Yu-sensei?" She asked uncertainly. The gold warrior did not respond to her inquiry but merely set her down gently while looking her over for wounds.

"Alright, no apparent injuries." He said gladly. Meilin noticed that he had a deep voice, deeper than Carter's even.

"Um…who are you?" She inquired curiously.

"Me?" He replied and then scratched his head as he pondered how to answer. "Well…how about this. That shiny headed guy I read about in the paper is called Wizard right? Kamen Rider Wizard?" Meilin nodded. "Then for now, I shall introduce myself as a fellow ally of justice." The golden armored man gently nudged Meilin behind him as he stepped toward Sphinx and his Titan. "My name is Beast, Kamen Rider Beast!" Beast threw back his right arm, letting his red mantle flutter in the breeze in a heroic show.

"Kamen Rider…" Meilin started.

"Beast!?" Kero finished in shock.

"Another Mahousukai." Sphinx scoffed in disgust. "Get rid of him!" Sphinx called to his remaining Ghouls who diverted their attention from Yue and Kero and charged at the new Kamen Rider.

"Get to somewhere safe Jou-chan." Beast urged as he walked toward the oncoming mob. "Let the adults handle this."

"Excuse me?!" Meilin asked in slight outrage.

(Bgm: BEASTBITE!)

"It's been a regular buffet for me today. So I guess I'll be taking my lunch break early. Ittadakimasu~!" Beast called joyfully as he leaped for the oncoming Ghouls, pouncing on the first two and slamming them down on the ground. He then rolled forward avoiding the stabbing spears of the other Ghouls. He sweeped the legs out from under the Ghouls closest to him and then leaped upon them, smashing his fist into their vulnerable chest and heads and moved on to the next Ghoul.

"Let's try this." He quipped as he switched out the scarlet ring on his finger to a deeper red shaded ring and brought it to the open mouth of the lion face on his buckle.

Go, Buffa! B-B-B-B-Buffa!

The scarlet falcon mantle on Beast's right shoulder was suddenly swapped out for a maroon mantle attached to a red bulls head with a gold ring on its nose.

"Here we go!" Beast growled expectantly as he charged bull head first back into the fray of Ghouls. This new mantle seemed to give him even more strength as he practically stampeded through the Ghouls, knocking them aside one by one and demolishing them as if he were a living steam roller. To the shock of those gathered, once Beast had thoroughly demolished the Ghouls, odd golden octagon centered circles of light materialized over the debris and soared toward Beast where they were absorbed into his belt with an odd gulping noise. "Delicious!" Beast quipped patting his stomach."

"He's eating their mana!?" Sphinx cried in shock as he began to back away fearfully.

"Those were just appetizers, guess who's my Main Dish?" Beast snickered as he slowly prowled toward Sphinx only for the Titan to bar his way. "Oooh, that's a bit big for an appetizer. I got just the thing for that." Beast suddenly dismissed his mantle altogether, revealing his arm in its base state.

"I've got to get out of here!" Sphinx decided he had no intention of becoming some feral magician's meal. The Phantom began to back away slowly when he heard a cry.

"You're not getting away!" Sphinx dodged to the side just as Meilin's flying kick soared by him.

"Out of my way brat!" Sphinx hissed as he raised his cane, intending to beat the irritating human girl to death if he had to. The trained fighter easily caught the cane in her open hands and relieved the shocked Phantom of his weapon. The yellow gems on her bracelets began to glow as golden energy flowed into Meilin's closed fist.

"Finale." She stated readily.

"Saate, Main Dish!" Beast stated expectantly as he kissed his latest ring and brought it to his driver's mouth.

Kick Strike, GO!

A golden magic circle appeared beneath Beast's feet as he set his legs in a low, spread leg stance. Beast leaped into the air, above the Titan as the octagram energized his boots as he angled himself into a flying drop kick. Suddenly, from the octagram under his feet the head of a snarling lion broke out of the portal, the lion's head opened its jaws wide as Beast hurtled for the Titan.

"Haaaa!" Meilin charged in on the shocked Sphinx, getting just between his arms and into his chest as she leveled her fist toward his torso. Meilin took a soft breath before her fist exploded from its short distance into the Phantom's torso.

"Uurrrraaagh!" Sphinx convulsed in pain as he was shot back through the air, right into the turned back of his Titan.

Roar!

With a mighty roar the Lion's head sunk its jaws into the Titan as Beast's Strike Beast finisher crashed straight through it and Sphinx at the same time. Phantom and Titan exploded as one as Beast skidded to a halting landing, posing once again in his low stance. The twin massive portions of mana were greedily absorbed into his buckle and Beast brought his hands together in prayer.

"Gotsun!" He declared, satisfied with his "meal".

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"C'mon!" Cherufe's arms struck out at rapid speed like pistons, shooting volley after volley of white hot magma blast which bombarded across the battle field indiscriminately. Though he wanted to hit the pesky magicians he didn't really mind if a building, car, road sign or even one of his ghouls were melted from his barrage.

"We've got to bring him down before he melts the entire city." Hurricane stated as he danced between oncoming strikes, twirling and cart-wheeling through the Ghouls spears and avoiding Cherufe's magma, all the while his twin reverse-handed Sword-Guns flashed silver and green as Ghouls were sliced to pieces in his wake.

"We've have our hands full as is." Land replied as she swatted Ghouls aside with her clawed right arm. As one sword wielding Ghoul tried to get the jump on her from behind she would sweep kick back, knocking it off its feet. She then sprang up and caught the head of another Ghoul between her boots and twisted in mid-air, sending the Ghoul careening through the air and shattering once it hit the ground.

"Just leave it to Flame." Water ordered the two of them as she gun whipped a Ghoul out of her way with one of her guns and shot down the one behind it with her other. Normally, one who preferred long ranged weapons would be at a disadvantage at close quarters or while surrounded, but Water proved to have no trouble at all as she bashed Ghouls aside with her twin Gun-Swords and smashing them to bits with a well placed stomp or kick.

"So, you'll take care of me eh? With that little butter knife?" Cherfue laughed mockingly as Flame stepped forward to face him. The 'butter knife' Cherfue spoke of was actually a 2 foot long katana with a gold hilt topped with blue string and was indented with a red flame mark and covered by a gold sheath. Flame held his sword by the sheath behind the guard.

"We will see." Flame stated emotionlessly as he took a firm grip on the sword's hilt. He swiftly unsheathed the katana and held it out to the side to reveal its flawless silvery steel blade. Though his weapon appeared impressive, Flame cast a disappointed glance at the sword as if he expected more.

"Enough posturing!" Cherufe rushed in swinging with his club like arms. Flame caught one burning limb on the side of his sword and the two pushed for control. The Phantom was honestly shocked that the skinny mage was capable of holding him off with only a flimsy sword, one handed even. "So you're better than I thought, I'm still gonna crush that tiny skull of yours."

"Not likely." Flame responded as the two broke apart only to charge back in. Flame was the faster as he sliced through Cherufe's side with his sword, cutting a thin line through his magma like body that fire began to escape from. Cherufe's caricature like face changed from a gleeful smile to an outraged scowl as he continued raining hammer blows on the Kamen Rider which were instantly struck back by Flames lightning swift sword strikes.

"Ahcheche!" The Phantom winced and shook his hands soothingly in order to ward off the pain from the assortment of gashes Flame cut into his fist.

"It seems this weapon is not efficient." Flame sighed as he resheathed the katana. "It still refuses to accept me as its master." He heartlessly cast the defiant sword aside, just as his three comrades joined him in facing down Cherufe, leaving a practical quarry of destroyed stone monsters behind them.

"No luck, Flame?" Water asked, starring after the forgotten sword sadly.

"It could be useful for the final battle." Land pointed out.

"It was never ours to begin with." Hurricane reminded them. "A sword that noble would never accept its master's murderers."

"Enough, it is done." Flame ordered as he ripped a ring from his chain. "Let's finish this."

"Like hell!" Cherufe roared in defiance, his facing twisting to one of utter fury and hatred to match his roar. His body began to practically ooze with lava as it built into massive wave of fiery death. The wave built higher and higher until, bringing both his hands forward, Cherufe propelled the lava wave to crash forward upon the Mages.

"Water! Shooting Strike! Now!"

Twin burst of high pressure water blast exploded against the wave, parting it to the side, away from the mages and blasting straight through into Cherufe's chest.

"Aghh!" Cherufe was pushed back but not down. Water twirled both her guns, their barrels alight with blue magic circles. Her comrades were following her lead as they readied their finishers.

"Yes! Kick Strike! Understand?!"

"Hurricane! Slash Strike! Now!"

"Yes! Special! Understand?!"

Land rushed in first, the claw on her right hand being energized by yellow magic power as it grew to 5 times its normal size. She smashed her giant claw across Cherufe's chest, gouging out more fire spewing scars into his body. Hurricane followed up by bring both his blades to bear, slicing out with them in rapid succession and sending blades of wind slicing through the air and crashing into the magma beast. The sturdy Phantom was still on his feet but his face had now become one of pure agony as lava and fire seeped from his wounds as if they were his life's blood.

"No more! I beg of you!" He pleaded as he realized Flame was gearing up to finish him off.

"Do not beg for mercy from me demon." Flame did not snarl nor spat his reply, but merely stated it coldly and honestly. "A Phantom's life is not worthy of being considered killed. So…" His boot was immediately set ablaze as he leaped into the air. "I will erase you."

"Yamero!" Cherufe called out in terror as Flame slammed into him with a flying kick that knocked him finally off his feet. Cherufe struggled to rise again and only then noticed the massive hole opened in his chest which lava flowed through freely. "I don't want to die!" He called out sorrowfully as the heat and light began to leave his body. The Phantom reached out in vain to Flame to save him, but the magician turned his back on the Phantom, his red cape flourishing as he walked away dismissive of the dying beast. "Please." Cherufe gasped as his body went still mid step. The fire that sustained the Phantom's life had burned out, leaving only a cold, stone husk.

"You never possessed a life to begin with, only a cursed existence."

"Explosion! Now!"

Red light built in Flame's raised hand and finally grew to a climax as Cherufe's corpse was blown to bits, sending up a hail of shattered rocks.

"Should we move to help the Card Mistress?" Land asked as Flame brushed past her and the others.

"No, continue searching the city for any Ghoul stragglers. Leave that battle to Wizard, I'm interested to see how he and Phoenix's battle will conclude." Flame stated and disappeared down a side alley in search of more monsters to hunt.

"I can never tell what he's thinking." Land sighed and Water placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He is thinking about what we all are thinking, fulfilling our promise to the master."

"He's just thinking of it more broadly than we are, apparently." Hurricane added as he followed after his leader to which Water and Land followed his lead.

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"Wood!" Sakura called out as she summoned a swarm of vines to reach out and entangle the Phoenix Titan. The thick grassy tendrils had managed to enwrap the giant's arms and neck, only for the Titan to start glowing with inner heat. Flames erupted from the crack like pores of the beast, incinerating the vines instantly.

"We can't trap it." Syaoran realized. "And those flames are going to create problems for us if it gets to close." Syaoran retrieved his blue fuda. "Suiryuu Shourai!"

The Titan was struck by the high pressure water, its flames seemingly doused by the spray. The Titan had suddenly stopped moving altogether.

"Did that stop it?" Sakura hoped. No such luck.

Fooom!

The titan roared furiously as its flames erupted out once again, and this time it was Syaoran's spell they repelled as the jet of water he was blasting at the thing was instantaneously evaporated into a thick cloud of steam that covered the area in a zero visibility mist.

"Sakura?!" Syaoran had immediately lost sight of Sakura in the thick mist.

"Syaoran-kun where are you?!" Sakura replied anxiously. The card mistress suddenly felt the ground beneath her shake violently and she turned just in time to see a large stone foot land beside her.

"Shield!" Sakura instinctively summoned up her dome like barrier, just as the Titan's massive foot careened straight into and shattered her shield. "Kyaaaaa!" Sakura cried out as the force of the blow sent her flying back.

"I've got you!" Sakura crashed into Syaoran's open arms as the two tumbled back. Syaoran managed to position they're fall so that Sakura would land on him without being hurt, while he sucked it up as the air was knocked out of him slightly.

"Arigato." Sakura thanked him graciously. The steam was starting to lift and to their horror the two finally noticed that the Titan was hovering over them, starring down at them almost hatefully. Its fist suddenly ignited as it pulled back to deliver a hammer blow on the prone two.

A high pitched screech suddenly cut through the air as a red blur dashed in front of the Phoenix Titan's face. The titan attempted to swat the speedy pest away but it remained out of its reach only to zoom back in, clawing and pecking at its stone face.

"Garu-chan!" Sakura sighed thankfully as she and Syaoran picked themselves up. A floating yellow shape joined its comrade as Kraken unleashed a spray of thick black ink to the Titan's face, blinding it.

"This is our chance." Syaoran urged as he readied another fuda. "If we combine our spells we may be able bring the thing down while it's distracted."

"Right!" Sakura agreed as she readied a card. The two were preparing to attack just as Garuda and Kraken were coming back around for another round of ploy tactics. But then…

"Damn pest!" A fire bird shaped projectile soared through the air and hit Garuda who gave a pained and surprised screech before falling to the ground, its mechanical wings badly burnt. "Bulls-eye." Phoenix sneered as he blew out his burning finger tips.

"Garu-chan!" Sakura cried in shock. Kraken called after its grounded comrade in concern and unfortunately ceased its blinding spray that had been keeping the Titan in check thus far. The Pla-Monster was powerless as it was snatched from the air and held tight in the Titan's closed fist. "Kraken-chan!"

"Grind those insects into dust already!" Phoenix commanded as the Titan crashed its foot down atop Garuda and its closed fist ignited, incinerating whatever was unfortunate enough to be within. Sakura and Syaoran watched horrified as wisp of red and yellow magic dust filtered into the air where the two remaining Pla-Monsters had once been. "That's the fate they deserve. Squashed like the bugs they are!" Phoenix cackled madly as he threw his head back and howled in delight. Syaoran gripped his sword tightly as he starred hatefully at the despicable Phantom. Sakura however, took in broken, seething breaths as the wings of her Star Wand grew and the star at its center began to glow bright.

"Yamete!" She cried out as her magic circle appeared beneath her and the wind began to pick up in response to her magic. Syaoran followed suit as he threw out his fuda.

"Storm!"

"Raitei Shourai!"

Sakura's hurricane force wind spell and Syaoran's lightning attack converged, creating a Super cell tornado that spat lightning like the ire of an angry god. The Titan was swept up by the storm, disappearing within the black clouds as it was hurtled into the air.

"Uni-san…Garu-chan…Kraken-chan." Sakura sobbed as she continued to pour her magic energy into sustaining the storm. The magical drain was taxing but for Sakura, the pain in her heart was hurting more than the drain of the spell. The sight of seeing such kind and loyal familiars, beings she had become good friends with, be so cruelly struck down was too much for her to bare.

"-kura! Sakura!" Sakura blinked in surprise as Syaoran was attempting to bring her back from her sorrow, shaking her so that she'd look at him. "That's enough." He assured her. Sakura blinked back tears but conceded as she lowered her wand, the storm steadily began to cease.

Crash!

The Titan had been swept high into the air and when it finally came back down it did so with a bang. Sakura and Syaoran covered themselves from the force of the impact. They looked over the destroyed husk of the Titan. Its body was fractured from every surveyable angle, half of its face was destroyed and it lost both of its arms. It appeared to be in an irrecoverable state.

"I wouldn't rest at ease just yet." Phoenix called unconcerned as he continued to lounge back. "My Titan is just as tenacious as I am." As if to prove his point, the damaged Titan's eyes flashed red once more as its body began to spout fire at a greater volume than before. The pair looked on in shock and horror as the titanic beast slowly rose back onto its feet and starred down upon them with its grisly half a face. "Accept it. You pathetic mages stand no chance." Phoenix declared arrogantly as twin jets of fire exploded from the stubs of the Phoenix Titan's arms. Sakura and Syaoran recognized that pose all too well. "Let's see that bastard get you out of this one."

"Way ahead of you brat!" Phoenix, as well as Sakura and Syaoran, turned wide eyed to the direction the angry reply came from.

Vroooom!

There he was, astride his trusty Machine Winger and adorned in his blazing red Flame Dragon armor, Kamen Rider Wizard had finally arrived!

"Yu-kun!"

"Hughes!"

"So you finally made it, mahousukai!" Phoenix sneered in slight glee as he gestured to his Titan to turn its attention on the latest interloper. "I certainly hope you came with something bigger than that puny bicycle of yours."

"As a matter of fact." Wizard pulled his bike to a halt beside Sakura and Syaoran. "I brought a friend along who wanted to help. He seemed pretty pissed after what he sensed you did to his mates." The entire street suddenly began to rumble, louder and louder in a rhythmic pattern, like running. And whatever was running, was going to be there very soon.

"ARRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

It started with a low but thunderous roar but was followed by explosive footfalls as a titanic shape charged its way onto the battlefield. It stood over 50 feet tall, at least as tall as the Titan. It had a wide, purple, box like body with towering trunk like legs and thick arms that ended in block like fist. Its face had strong, solid features though it showed little expression and its head was topped with a wide, cylindrical dome, like the base of a ring.

"Golem…chan?" Sakura asked amazed. The towering giant glanced down at the two young mages. It reached out with one of its long, loping hands and extended a massive finger toward Sakura. Sakura did not flinch away as the giant digit, with the delicacy of a true craftsman, gently caressed the side of Sakura's face. Sakura smiled and placed a hand on Golem's finger gratefully. He had come to help them. He had gotten over his fears and come to their aide after repairing Carter's Driver. "Arigato, Golem-chan." The titanic Pla-Monster nodded assuredly.

"Enough of this mellow drama!" Phoenix spat disgustedly. "Titans, tear that overgrown toy to pieces!" Phoenix suddenly lobbed three more black stones onto the battle ground, summoning a trio of the standard variety of Titan that flanked their taller, wounded counterpart. Golem positioned himself between the Titans and his friends as he raised his thick arms up in a ready fighting pose.

"Alright partner, let's do this!" Wizard hopped off his bike and proceeded to ascend his gigantic familiar's titanic frame until he was positioned on Golem's shoulder. "Saa, Showtime daa!" Wizard declared as Golem banged his chest in challenge and charged into face his foes head on.

The Titan's roared in fury as they pressed forward to intercept. Two of the three regular variants reached Golem first as they seized both of the Pla-monsters arms in an effort to leave the giant defenseless. The third beast then rushed in with arms pulled back in preparation to strike down the detained Golem.

"ARRRROOOOO!" Golem cried out in annoyance and to the shock of Sakura and Syaoran, hoisted both Titans off the ground as they refused to release his arms. Golem smashed his arms and both his would be captors together, forcing them to loosen their grip on his limbs and allow him to toss them aside and meet the charging Titan head on. The Titan collided full force but only managed to budge Golem back slightly as the purple giant set his feet. Golem shoved the giant stone beast away and then swung in with a massive hammer blow that knocked the Titan off its feet. Golem beat his chest angrily and then grabbed the Titan by the leg, tossing it into the air and smashing it back down with double the force. Golem continued to smash his captive against the ground till all that was left was its lower body due to its entire torso being shattered against the concrete. Golem tossed the remains of its foe aside and turned on the remaining two Titans who managed to pick themselves back up and were preparing to attack again.

Golem decided that enough had been enough. The giant familiar suddenly pointed one arm up vertically and then the other as bright red light began to build around the top of its head. "ARRRROOOOO!" Golem roared and slammed his fist together prompting the building crimson glow to burst suddenly and a white hot beam of fire exploded from the tip of his head. The Titans looked on emotionlessly as the beam of pure heat and flame struck the first square in the face and then veered downward, cutting a white hot line of fire down the beast's center and causing it to fall apart into two bisected halves. The beam then veered again, slicing diagonally upward and cleaving the head off the other Titan as the beam finally dissipated.

Sakura starred dumb stuck at what she had just seen. "I didn't know Golem-chan could do that." She stated mouth hanging open in disbelief.

Syaoran shook his head and chuckled in exasperation. "He can't." Syaoran explained while pointing up to the very top of the Pla-monsters head. It was distant but Sakura could just make out a familiar shape stand upon the platform like tip of Golem's head.

"Whoo!" Wizard called out happily as he pumped his arms in joy. The DragoSkull on his chest was letting off smoke after releasing such a powerful burst of flame. "This is a dream come true!"

"Mataku!" Syaoran groaned while face palming and Sakura giggled. Being such an advocate of Japanese culture, it would stand to reason the somewhat childish magician would love being in this kind of battle. And it seemed he was able to rope Golem along for the ride.

All that remained was the damaged Phoenix Titan and based on the flames spouting from its cracked and broken body it was preparing to unleash its ultimate attack. The wing like jets burned bright and wide as the flames began to enwrap its entire body. The Titan roared a savage war cry as it brought its inferno to bear.

"Oh crap!" Thinking quickly Wizard hastily slipped on one of his rings and passed his hand over his driver.

"Big, please!"

A massive red magic circle appeared in front of carter as the magician took a firm grip of his coat tails, stretching it and flinging it into the portal. The red cloth exited the magic portal at a colossal scale. Golem took hold of the cloth his master had tossed him and pulled it taut before him like a mantle. The shield of red cloth held strong against the inferno, absorbing and deflecting the flames.

Wizard laughed, amazed his plan worked so well. "Guess we'll call this the Strike Golem Big Shield." The Titan's flames finally ceased and Golem released his barrier, allowing it to retract and shrink back into Wizard's coat tails with a snap. "Nice!" The Kamen Rider whistled as he patted down his slightly singed jacket bottoms. The Phoenix Titan was totally defenseless, time to finish up.

"Finale!" Wizard commanded as he slipped on one more ring and Golem charged in with his fist clenched readily.

"Drill, Please!"

Golem's wrists were encircled by twin magic circles as his hands began to rotate at high speeds until both his hands had become like deadly drill bits. Golem crossed the distance between him and his hated foe, slamming one of his drill bit fist home into the side of the Titan's head, completely shattering it. As the Titan pitched to the side from Golem's blow he smashed his other fist through its chest, lifting it off the ground until it too exploded in defeat. Golem howled in victory as he followed Wizard's lead and pumped his fist into the air.

"That takes care of tha-!" An explosion suddenly went off across Golem's chest, knocking the familiar off its feet. "Golem!" Wizard called out in concern and with a flip of his Driver's switch dispelled the magic granting Golem his battle form, changing him back to his small, ape like stature. Wizard caught his familiar mid fall and held him close as he sought out the origin of that surprise attack.

Phoenix had been watching on the side lines long enough, he decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. The furious Phantom soared toward the falling magician with his fist blazing. "Mahousukai!"

Wizard saw the Phantom coming a mile away but instead of trying to take some kind of evasive escape he instead swung back toward the wall of a building and then kicked off, twisting through the air. "Phoenix!"

Wizard's momentum carried bicycle kick met Phoenix's blazing punch head on as their clash created a shock wave that rumbled across the battle field. The two instantly broke apart and landed on the ground opposite from each other.

"Took you long enough, Mahousukai." Phoenix sneered as he summoned his great sword to his waiting hand and rested it across his shoulder.

"You better take cover, Golem." Wizard said as he set the tiny familiar onto the ground. "This is my fight to finish." Golem did as it was told and waddled away, passing by Sakura and Syaoran who rushed to stand at the Kamen Rider's side.

"Smart move sending that little runt away. Hate to have to break another of your little toys." Phoenix cackled cruelly. Sakura tensed up at his comment as her grip on her staff tightened. Carter however placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, as long as their rings are intact I can remake them. They did great, so let them rest while we finish up our part."

"Hai!" Sakura replied, her eyes once again showing her determination to fight.

"Hmph! So you can fix your pathetic little familiars?" Phoenix scoffed in disgust. "Whatever, by the end of this day they won't have a master, so they can 'rest' for eternity for all I care."

"So sure of yourself." Wizard mocked as he set his stance in preparation to fight. "Last I checked I still held the lead in our match up. And Syaoran-kun has you beat 1-0." The teenage mage had to cast an unnerved glance to his masked comrade. Was it really wise to try and rile him up?"
"Oh I haven't forgotten. I remember all too well." Phoenix's body began to radiate heat. "My humiliation, my disgrace. It has all been leading up to this day. The day I take all of my anger. All of my hatred. All of it, and bury you weaklings once and for all!" A wave of heat suddenly exploded from Phoenix's body coming straight for the trio of mages.

"Defend!"

Carter quickly summoned up his dome of heat as the wave of fire passed over them. Phoenix scoffed at the pitiful attempt to ward him off and let loose with a compacted blast of fire from his palms that impacted against Wizard's shield, dissipating it and forcing the magician back a few inches as he attempted to hold his barrier up against the blast.

"I've gotten stronger with every fight. No one can defeat me anymore. Not that bitch and certainly not you."

"Hmm?" Carter blinked at the Phantom's comment. "Wait, do you mean Empousa-chan?"

Phoenix snickered as if he had just heard the punch line of a joke. "Right. There was a rumor going on about there being something between you and that back stabbing wench. Not that it did her any favors, you certainly weren't there to save her."

"Yu-kun?" Sakura glanced at her friend who had suddenly become very stiff, his fist clenched.

"I held onto something of hers for you. You can keep it as a momento and remember her, for what little life you have left." Phoenix sneered as he tossed something upon the ground at Wizard's feet. Sakura gasped wide eyed and Syaoran nervously looked to Carter for his reaction, fearing the worst. At Wizard's feet; it's blade noticeably having been melted away or seared off and scorched to a recognizable black, was Empousa's rapier.

Wizard starred long and hard at the ruined weapon of his beloved rival. He recalled their last meeting. Him begging her to leave the conflict in Tomoeda. Expressing how honored he was to be her rival, considered practically her equal. He realized immediately afterwards that those were barely even half of the things he wanted to tell her.

"Phoenix…" Wizard slipped on his new Dragon Style ring as his tone became harsh and dangerous. "We're done talking, let's end this."

"My thoughts exactly!" Phoenix summoned his wings to his back at that instant, pumping them rapidly and creating a burning whirlwind of flame that threatened to scorch his three foes. Wizard passed his trump card over his belt's scanner in retaliation.

"Water…Dragon! Jabajaba Bashan, Zabun Zabun!"

Large, draconic wings of water sprouted from Wizard's back and then enwrapped the trio in a dome of bubbling water that held back the flaming maelstrom around them. The dome suddenly pushed forward, transforming into a watery likeness of dragon that crashed into Phoenix. Dousing his flames and forcing him to guard against the sudden flood of stinging water. The water dragon then soared back to Wizard's side, enwrapping him in a watery cocoon as a blue magic circle appeared behind him.

"I'm pulling out all the stops." Wizard declared as he was revealed in his sapphire blue Dragon Style armor. He equipped himself with two sword-guns, one in gun mode the other as a blade. "I'm taking you down, Phoenix! Sakura-chan, Syaoran-kun!" He called out.

"Hai!"

"Ah!"

"Showtime daa!" They all called out as one and charged to meet the recovering Phantom head on.

"That's what I like to see!" Phoenix howled in glee as he raised his great sword and dashed in crying a savage war cry. Wizard and Syaoran dashed in as one, stabbing their blades in at once. Phoenix saw the attack coming and swung his blade at an arc. His counter would have surely cleaved both men's heads off if Sakura hadn't then made her move and threw out two of her cards at once.

"Sword! Power!" Sakura's Star Wand immediately changed back into a thin bladed, wing guard rapier as the Card Mistress slashed upward with her sword, using the increased strength she gained from Power to deflect and smash Phoenix's sword up out of the path of Wizard and Syaoran who stabbed their blades home into Phoenix's chest.

"Gah! Onore!" Phoenix cursed as he coated his fist in flames. The Phantom smashed his blazing hook down toward Sakura who was closest to him, but his fist was met with Wizard's knee and the Phantom was forced back further as the magician let off a round from his gun that struck the Phantom in the shoulder.

"Raitei Shourai!" Syaoran followed up with a lightning blast, knocking the Phantom off his feet and sent him soaring back.

"Not good enough!" Phoenix's wings suddenly caught in the wind, allowing him to right himself in midair. Phoenix let loose a bombardment of blazing blast from his sword as he rained down destruction upon his foes.

"Windy!" Sakura summoned her golden sylph, sending it soaring to meet Phoenix and ensnaring the enraged Phantom in chains of wind. Carter took this opportunity to ready an attack to bring the dangerous fire bird down. The magician tossed his sword into the air over his head as he opened the scanner of his gun.

"Water! Shooting Strike! Sui-sui-sui!"

He then caught his falling sword and juggled up his energized gun to do the same with his other weapon.

"Water! Slash Strike! Sui-sui-sui!"

"Kirai!" Wizard took both his weapons in hand and leaped into the air. The mahousukai slashed upward with his water empowered sword, slicing off one of Phoenix's wings and then twisted around mid air to blast the Phantom back down to Earth with a blast of high pressure water.

"Arrrgh! Hrraaaaaaa!" Phoenix smashed his fist against the concrete in frustration as he forced his way back to his feet. "I will not lose again!" He declared as he cast aside his sword and rushed straight for the Kamen Rider with his body coated in flames.

Wizard turned both his weapons to gun mode and let loose with a barrage of silver bullets on the charging Phantom but none of them could penetrate the cocoon of fire surrounding Phoenix. Phoenix collided with Wizard, forcing the magician to drop on of his sword as he stabbed into Phoenix's chest when they crashed together. But still the Phantom was undeterred as he took a firm grip on both the magician's arms.

"You won't get away now." Phoenix assured as the heat coming from his body reached unbearable levels.

"What are you-?!"

"I'm taking us both out of this fight." Phoenix said as his body began to crack, letting more flames escape out. "I'm going to self destruct and take you with me. But guess what bastard, only one of us can resurrect himself and it sure ain't you!"

"Crap!" Wizard tried to pull away but Phoenix's grip was like a vice. He would have to chop his arms off to get away. Not his idea of best case scenario.

"Now you die, mahousukai." Phoenix snickered.

"Not today."

Shing!

"T-teme!" Phoenix roared in fury and disbelief. One of his arms had been sliced from his shoulder, giving Wizard the opportunity he needed to press his foot into the Phantom's chest and break them apart. His rescuer, took him by the hand as she pulled them both to safety as the Phantom seemed close to exploding.

"Watery!"

"Suiryuu Shourai!"

Sakura and Syaoran both unleashed jets of water onto Phoenix, dousing his flames and impeding his self destruct.

"Bitch, you survived!" Phoenix cried in outrage as he vainly attempted to fight the flames holding him back.

"So many underestimate my speed." Empousa quipped as leveled her bone hilted dagger playfully. "And they always forget my second blade."

"I should have known better. But thank goodness you're alright." Wizard squeezed her hand tight in his own, smiling warmly behind his helmet.

"Well…" Empousa looked away, shyly. "If you died at the hands of this fool who would I have to compete against." Empousa pulled away and turned to leave, waving behind her as she went. "I'm sure you don't need me to finish up." She said confidently and then disappeared in a burst of magenta flame.

"Right." Wizard returned his attention to Phoenix and his friend's valiant efforts to keep the mad Phantom in check. "Time to end this." Wizard slipped on his final ring as he took his spot between Sakura and Syaoran, summoning a blue magic circle to his open palm.

"Cho-ine, Blizzard! Saikoooo!"

A gale of icy wind erupted from the Wizard's palm, mixing in with Sakura and Syaran's water spells and creating a hail of frozen rain that stung and froze at the same time.

"You think…a little freezing rain…can stop me!" Phoenix roared as he forced his way forward slowly, his remaining hand building up fire.

"C'mon!" Sakura begged as she channeled all of her power into trying to freeze the Phantom in his tracks.

"Just a little more." Syaoran hoped. Carter noticed that both of his friends were weakening, they had been fighting hard until now and their strength was close to giving out. He had to finish this fight before then.

"Now!" Wizard growled as he pulled his hand away from his blizzard spell and quickly passed his hand over his sword's hand author once more.

"Water, Slash Strike! Sui-sui-sui! Sui-sui-sui!"

"Haaaa!" Wizard took hold of his sword with both hands as he sliced through his own blizzard summoning magic circle, channeling the watery slash blast through it so that it exploded out as a storm of ice that not only extinguished Phoenix's remaining flames but also instantly flash froze the Phantom in a cage of solid ice.

Sakura and Syaoran released their spells and slumped to the ground in exhaustion, breathing heavily from the exertion.

"You two alright?" Wizard asked in concern as he checked them both over.

"H-hai, daijobu." Sakura sighed.

"Ah!" Syaoran agreed. "We finally stopped him."

"Damn…you!" Phoenix snarled from within his icy prison. They all watched as he attempted to move, struggle and break free of the man sized chunk of ice that encased him but the frozen block didn't even move. The two young magicians watched nervously as his body started to give off heat once more as fire started to surround his body within the ice, but not even a drop formed on the ice's surface, it wasn't melting at all.

"It seems this ice we caged you inside of is unmeltable." Wizard observed as he placed a fearless hand on the surface of the ice. "And stronger than you can break free of it seems. Though I suppose if I were to shatter it and you inside it, you'd just revive wouldn't you?" Wizard didn't need to hear the answer, he already knew.

"Seriously?!" Syaoran asked in disbelief. "We'll be able to end this then."

"Not necessarily." Wizard said as he already commenced swapping out his rings. "If we were to leave him somewhere where no one would be able to shatter his ice and where he won't be able to hurt anyone again…"

"Where did you have in mind Yu-kun?" Sakura inquired as Carter opened a connect portal.

"Leave it to me."

"Land, Dragon! Dan Den Don Zu Dogon, Dan Den Dogon!"

"Cho-ine! Gravity! Saikooo!"

Switching to his yellow dragon form, Wizard summoned up his gravitational control and steadily lifted the encaged Phoenix off the ground. "Go find the others, I'll handle it from here." Carter affectionately ruffled both of his young friends' hair as he stepped through the portal, the ice containing Phoenix following behind him. Sakura couldn't help but since an odd feeling of bitterness coming off her friend.

'Yu-kun…?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where are we?" Phoenix demanded as Wizard and he exited the portal. Where they stepped out to appeared to be near the sea, or rather out to sea as there was nothing but water as far as the eye could see.

"We are several hundred miles South-East of Japan." Wizard stated emotionlessly. He then released his spell prompting Phoenix to drop into the ocean while he remained floating over the water.

"What the hell is this!?" Phoenix cried in outrage. "You think dropping me on some sea floor is gonna be enough to get rid of me!?"

"What we are currently over is the Mariana Trench, the deepest chasm of the worlds ocean's." Carter explained as Phoenix began to sink.

"You can't be serious!" Phoenix's voice finally began to crack with what sounded like worry. "You can't just leave me here."

"You've been cursed with an immortal body and a rage you yourself can barely control. In order to protect everyone you threaten, in order to protect hope this is what has to be done."

"Bullshit! What hope exist for a situation like this?!" Phoenix roared in fury as he began to struggle against his prison once more. "You're nothing but a hypocrite! You and you're false hope can burn in hell together!"

"You can hate me. Call me a devil. Even curse my name till the day I die. I will accept you hate." Wizard began to fall back to his portal just as all that remained of Phoenix was his head above the water. "But just know this was the path you chose. You still held onto your human heart and still you chose to terrorize and attempt to destroy all those around you to sate your anger and hatred."

"And what other path did I have to take, huh!? What choice did a worthless, magicless third born like me have to gain power!?"

"You could have let go of your anger and embraced hope. I understand now, in the end it was you who was holding your development back. Your anger and frustration stunted your magical growth. Thus your magic never appeared in your human life." Wizard's words struck Phoenix speechless. Before long, the Phantom was entire submerged underwater, only a stream of bubbles showing where he had sunk.

"Goodbye, Immortal Phoenix. For you, there will be no Finale." Wizard hung his head in shame as he slunk back into his portal, leaving his longtime foe behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Carter dropped his armor as he reemerged back in Tomoeda, coincidentally near where his young friends had also gathered.

"Yu-kun!" Sakura called out to him as she and the others ran to meet him. Carter quickly patted his face in order to remove the melancholy expression he wore and perked up in front of his victorious comrades.

"Looks like we did it." Carter congratulated them as he high fived Kero and and Meilin for a job well done.

"Yu-sensei, you won't believe this." Meilin said with her eyes full of wonder. "I met another mahousukai like you!"

"NANI?!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Aw man! I feel stuffed." A lone figure waltzed through the empty streets, stretching and patting his stomach down in a relaxed manner. "I bet you're happy too, right Chimera?" The figure asked the lion faced buckle around his waist. "No don't say it! I know you're not completely satisfied. There were a whole lot of different magical presences that suddenly appeared and then disappeared all at once." The long figure patted his stomach reassuringly. "I don't know who it is that's also hunting these Phantoms, but no need to worry. I won't let you starve. My life depends on it after all."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Phoenix has been defeated it seems." Water explained to Flame as they met within the black void once more.

"She still poses a very real threat though." Flame replied. "And now that Wizard has evolved all of his powers, his development will prove to be all the more dangerous from here on out."

"Flame, tell me. Just why are you so interested in Carter Hughes?"

"Why you ask?" Flame turned to his companion and for a very rare moment she saw him grin. "Because he's just like me, he just won't admit it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I did it! First major hurtle of the series cleared! (Applause!)

Yes readers that is the end of Phantom Phoenix, will he be missed? I might but hopefully I succeeded in writing him as a villain you all love to hate. Mixed my own spin on his conclusion while pulling from the original content, and before anyone ask, I actually looked on the KR Wiki and read that the ice Haruto sealed him in was unmeltable and I just thought to myself "well why didn't he just leave him in there?" Oh well.

Also: There I've introduced Beast! It was a minor appearance for this chapter but hopefully it will satiate you until next chapter where I actually introduce his character. (Though if you paid attention to my Christmas special's conclusion you'd see I already hinted at him.)

And finally, Kamen Rider Mages! Yay! I'm sure you all figured who they were by now so I decided to stop beating around the bush. My versions of Mage are derived from a combination of the Mages from the series and the Wizard in Magicland movie with further changes made by me. They too will be major to the coming events of this series.

And now a parting note: Phoenix is gone and Empousa is defiant to the whims of the Phantoms. Who will the Phantom Mistress bring in next to act as her enforcer of Despair? Perhaps a nightmare from our charming hero's tragic past come to light?

I do not own Kamen Rider or Cardcaptor Sakura

Till next time!

Extra Note: Currently on my Profile I have compiled a list of Story Ideas I just have floating around in my head. I have provided descriptions for all of them. If you have the time please look them over and if it pleases you pm, tell me whether you like them or not or even if you are looking to adopt a story because I would love to see these become true even if I'm not the one to do them.